Le phénomène de la synonymie entre système linguistique et infinité. Saussure et Bally en comparaison

The aim of this paper is to describe the phenomenon of synonymy as understood by Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Bally. As regards Saussure we find semiotically relevant suggestions both in the Cours de linguistique générale and, more strongly, in the Écrits de linguistique générale. In particular, in De l’essence double du langage (essay contained in Écrits) the notion of synonymy is correlated both to that of “negative synonymy”, in reference to the oppositional and negative character of linguistic elements within a linguistic system, and to that of “infinite synonymy”, in reference to the incalculable domain of possible senses with which we can reformulate the meaning of a word according to the contexts, in the various jeux de signes (sign manipulations) in which speakers are involved. The infinite synonymy and the theoretical necessity of contextual reference, together with the reference to the jeux des signes, are also present in Charles Bally’s subsequent reflections, in particular in his notion of “expressive molecule” as a system of facts of expression grouped coherently around a given idea. Among these facts of expression there are also synonymic expressions that play an important role in the establishment of the science of expression, and more precisely of stylistics.